1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to consumer electronics products of the type having a door for the ingress and egress of recorded or recording media, such as magnetic tapes, and further having an information display panel associated with the product.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Consumer electronics units of the type above-mentioned may include video cassette recorders/players (VCRs), compact disc players, or audio-cassette players. A door covering the ingress/egress area for recorded media is often situated substantially flush with the front panel of the unit in its closed position to cover the ingress/egress "throat" of the unit so as to prevent dust from entering the unit and for appearance sake.
Such units will often have an information display panel for conveying information to the operator of the unit such as time, function, tape count, etc. The display generally has lighted segments for displaying variable alphanumeric information. Icons for the display of less rapidly varying information may also be included.
Owing to the desire for ever smaller overall size of these units and the desire for stylistic differentiation and design freedom for the shape of the unit, one possible accommodation for these desires is to incorporate the information display within the media ingress and egress door, thereby allowing a saving of surface area on the front panel of the unit or the possibility of unique designs where a separate door and display panel need not be accommodated on the front panel.
Possible problems with integrating the door and the display arise with certain types of units such as VCRs where a pivoting door can slam open or closed or encounter contact with the cassette, subjecting the door to shock and vibration. Thus, electronic displays such as the light emitting diode (LED) type, liquid crystal display (LCD), or fluorescent display panel (FDP) type displays incorporated into the door may fail due to such forces. Also the electrical connections to such door-mounted displays would have to be flexible and/or movable and would undergo flexing/stresses as well as the aforementioned shock and vibration.
3. Objects of the Invention
It is, therefore, among the objects of the present invention to provide a combined door and display panel for a consumer electronics product or unit, having a media ingress/egress door and an information display panel. It is, further, among these objects to provide such a combined door and display panel which is nearly immune to shock and vibration. It is another object of the present invention to provide a combined door and display panel which has no electrical connection to the moving door part.
Other attendant advantages will be more readily appreciated as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description and compared in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the figures. It will be appreciated that the drawings may be exaggerated for explanatory purposes.